Indians, Hawks each claim mat victories in CBC finale

Wednesday

Jan 25, 2017 at 12:50 AM

Corn Belt Conference wrestling at PTHS

Erich Murphy

Senior Night at any high school is always a special occasion. At Pontiac, it not only meant honoring those who will not be the program next season, but also recognition of those who have been a part of the success of that program. Tuesday was Senior Night for Pontiac wrestling and 10 grapplers and managers took the honor walk with parents. But the program’s major sponsor was also recognized as head coach Corey Christenson made a point to showcase how much the Illinois National Guard and the U.S. Army have meant to PTHS wrestling. The Indians, who still have one more home meet, a regional on Feb. 4, donned their camouflage uniforms en route to posting two one-sided victories in the final Corn Belt Conference meet. Prairie Central also captured two wins in its matchups. The Hawks and Indians both faced U-High and IVC on this night.Pontiac Indians “We were lucky enough to have 10 seniors and that’s a testament to our program,” Christenson said. “All but two were four-year seniors. That’s really cool. I’m very proud of these guys.” There were seven wrestling seniors and three managers. Of the wrestlers, five took the mat and four of them posted at least one win. “We wrestled like we’ve been wrestling the top competition in the state,” Christenson said. “We looked better than we did the other night at Prairie Central.” Pontiac lost to PC last week in their league matchup. This time, the Indians were dominant against U-High and IVC. Against the Pioneers, who will be leaving the conference after this school year, PTHS had virtually no issues in the 74-6 win. Only heavyweight senior Devin Cross lost, and that was to Packard Otto, the second-ranked heavyweight in Class 2A. U-High was riddled with illness and injuries, thus bringing only five bouts to the mat. The Indians won four of those. Kevin Gschwendtner, a senior, won by fall at 2:47 at 170 pounds and classmate Billy Burns needed just 17 seconds to record a pin at 152. Jonathan Romero was a 13-4 major decision winner at 106 and Max Schertz won a 16-7 major at 138 pounds. The match with IVC was expected to be more challenging, but the Tribe spooked the Grey Ghosts 53-15. PTHS accepted three forfeits but claimed eight victories of the 11 contested bouts. Top-ranked Jake Lanning set a new school record in career takedowns before he registered a pin at 2:26 of the 182-pound bout. Lanning needed five take downs and recorded six in the first period alone to break the old mark. Brandon Hodgson won his 113-pound bout by fall (3:54) and Gschwendtner got his second pin with a stick 14 seconds into the second period at 170. Payton Pulliam was a 10-2 major winner at 132 and Schertz won 7-4 at 138. Burns posted a 14-2 major at 152 and Tyler Lanning won 8-3 at 160. Mariano Vega won 6-3 at 195. “This was a good confidence-builder. We’ve been pushing on working on their six moves and drilling,” Christenson said. “They are really starting to get a concept on what they want to hit instead of wanting to dabble with everything.”Prairie Central Hawks The Hawks were pushed a little more than head coach Mark Payne liked, but they still came away with two wins. The U-High match was a walk by the same factor as PTHS — the Pioneers were very shorthanded. PC’s 54-12 win included three pins. Simon Schuler got his pin in 3:09 at 152 pounds. Jacob Woodrey won by fall in 3:23 at 170 and Dakota Shawback got a pin in 2:55 at heavyweight. The IVC win went down to the final bout. Woodrey got the call at 160 pounds and scored a 9-1 major for the final difference. The match was all even at 36-36 when Woodrey took the mat. It was a 40-36 PC win when he walked off. “I wasn’t terribly impressed with our effort,” Payne said. “The good thing about it is they all felt the same way, the effort wasn’t good enough.” Matt Kerns began the match with a pin in 65 seconds at 170 pounds. Drew Hoselton followed with pin at 1:55 of the 182-pound bout. Cade Kerns made it three in a row with a stick in 3:13 at 195. Schuler won by fall in 1:20 at 145 pounds. “We’re trying to get ready for regionals,” Payne said. “I have my way of getting ready, something I’ve been doing for many years. It’s not going to make everyone happy but I’m not going to change my ways. We’re competing for a regional championship and we have to do what we have to do to prepare ourselves.” Prairie Central and Pontiac each have one more meet before regionals. The Indians will be at East Peoria on Thursday and the Hawks travel to Washington, the top-ranked team in Class 2A, on Friday.

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